A/N: Let's see what these two are up to.

No copyright infringement is intended. All recognizable characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer. I own the plot and mistakes.

I really hope you like it.

ENJOY!

01/27/2024

Rear-view Town

Chapter 7

Bella sat at the kitchen table as she remembered the night before. She couldn't help the smile on her face as she got up to pour herself another cup of coffee. Paul was still sleeping, and Charlie was already gone for work. As she stirred her creamer into her coffee, her mind wondered to the way Paul had pulled her up on her knees and pressed the center of her back to perch her ass in the air. It was something new for her and loved the experience. She had to hold a pillow over her mouth to keep from making too much noise. Paul was a little rough, but she liked it. There were so many different positions she wanted to try. She felt like she had already gained an addiction to sex.

The sound of Paul's feet hitting the floor had Bella opening her mind up to him. She wanted him to know how much she loved him. "I love you, too, Angel."

He had told her over and over the night before how much he burned for her. She was his ember that kept his flame going. "Angel?"

The sound of Paul's voice startled Bella as he stepped into the kitchen. "You scared the daylights out of me."

Paul wrapped his arms around her from where she stood at the kitchen counter still stirring her coffee. "Sorry." He kissed her neck. "You're off in La La Land."

"I was in Paul land." She turned and wrapped her arms around him. "Good morning."

"Definitely a good morning." Paul snuck a sip of her coffee and made a face. "Good God!" He sat her cup down. "You use a five-pound bag of sugar in your coffee?"

Bella giggled. "I only use creamer."

"How much sugar does your creamer have in it?" Paul reached up and pulled a cup down for himself. He did it all one handed because the other was still wrapped around his Angel.

Bella turned and picked up the carton of her creamer to read the nutritional information. "It only has 5 grams per tablespoon. I like the flavored kind. The mocha and Hazelnut are my favorites."

It infuriated Edward that Paul could hear Bella's thoughts where he couldn't. He had wanted to so badly, but he now knew why he couldn't. It didn't matter if she was his singer or not. She was meant for Paul as his imprint. The moment he learned that they could talk within their minds, he knew that she was never meant to be his. He still wanted her, though. He still wants to marry her so they could bond hoping that would lead to her being his eternal mate.

That was all wishful thinking, unfortunately. It would never happen, but Edward was having a hard time convincing himself that they were over. It didn't matter how much his family lectured him. He couldn't get a grip on reality.

The more he stayed near Bella, the harder it was to step away from her. He honestly didn't want to cause any rifts with the wolves. Forks is their home and if he didn't control himself, they would have to leave to save their lives. He couldn't leave where he knew Bella is. It would be hard once she no longer lived in Charlie's house. It was bad enough that the wolves already knew he was lurking around where he wasn't welcome, but worst of all, in his eyes, he could never get Bella alone because her wolf was always with her.

Paul's offer had been accepted on the house he and Bella chose. As soon as the papers were signed, they went furniture shopping. They chose everything together except kitchen stuff. He told Bella not to spare any expense and choose whatever she wanted for her kitchen because he could barely cook a can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli's. Anything else they needed, they agreed to purchase online, and Bella planned to have one hell of a time doing it.

"Jake said we need to be at the house about seven so we can help bring some tables and chairs to the beach." Bella was putting her hair into a ponytail as she hurried down the stairs to the kitchen where Paul and Charlie sat at the table waiting on her. "Let's go!" She demanded.

"Yes, drill sergeant," Paul said playfully.

Charlie decided to drive down on his own. He needed a vehicle just in case the station called. This was his first official tribal bonfire. Over the years, Billy had invited him, but Charlie politely declined stating that he didn't feel right about it and that evening they were welcoming Paul into the tribe and the wolf pack, so he wanted to be there with his daughter to witness the events. Paul had gone out on patrol with the pack two more times before his formal invitation. He was getting tattooed the old tribal way with traditional bamboo instruments.

"I think I'm gonna get a tattoo, too," Bella said as they headed towards LaPush. "It'll have to be something meaningful. Maybe you can let me take a picture of you as your wolf and use that as my tattoo template."

Paul raised his brows at her. "Where would you put it?" Paul's wolf loved the idea of Bella tattooing him on her. If he had it his way, it would be on her inner thigh.

"Right here." Bella placed her hand over her heart.

"How about your back or the side of your leg?" Paul suggested.

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. This is the first time I've ever thought about getting a tattoo."

"When we get married, I'm getting your name tattooed on my ring finger because when I phase, it'll probably bust the metal into a million pieces." Paul glanced over at his Angel to see her smiling.

"I like that," she replied. "I'll do the same, but I still want rings or just a wedding band. I'm not picky."

"I'll have a band, too. I just won't wear it too much." He flipped on his turn signal and took the left turn that took him to his dad's house.

Charlie pulled in behind Paul's truck just as they were getting out. He hadn't failed to notice the constant smile on his daughters' face. He really does like Paul, and picking on his future son in-law was a rite of passage. Charlie was sure there was going to be a wedding in the very near future, and grandchildren. He wished Renee was still alive to share his happiness. Even being gone for nearly 18 years, he misses her just as much as the first year.

Sadly, Charlie hadn't dated anyone since Renee passed away. She still held his heart, and it was hard for him to even think about dating anyone other than his wife. Bella always pushed for him to try to find someone, but he felt like he would be cheating on his one true love.

"Hello! Dad!" Charlie was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear Bella call for him.

Charlie shook his head a little. "Sorry, honey. What did you say?"

"I said, Cora wants you to take the fold-up lawn chairs down to the beach." Bella had her purse thrown over her shoulder and carried a thick hoodie, and a blanket. She knew how cold it gets at night especially close to the water.

"Sure, kiddo," Charlie complied as he started towards the back of the house to the shed. All thoughts of Renee put on hold for a later time.

All but a few of the wolves made it to the beach to help set up just as the sun began to set. Cora, Sue Clearwater, Bella and a few other ladies started getting the food cooked. They planned to get everyone fed before the stories started.

The elders sat by the fire and conversed as everyone started to gather. All the wolves and a few of their imprints were congregated in a group near the elders. Bella and Paul were sat on the blanket Bella had brought. She had gotten herself comfortable in between Paul's legs. He had his arms wrapped around her shoulders as the stories started. Bella had heard the stories one time before, but she really didn't understand most of it. This time, everything was starting to make sense.

"It was said that the longer the wolves were able to phase, the longer they lived. One of our originals lived for nearly five hundred years. As generations passed, the longevity of their life had dwindled from 500 to 300 years, give or take, and their imprints lived just as long. It was never known back then if their children would carry the shifter genes until they became of age. The youngest wolf, that we know of, was 14."

Paul leaned down to whisper in Bella's ear. "Looks like we have about three hundred years together.

Bella sank back further into Paul's embrace. "Good, because I never want to be without you."

By the end of the stories where Paul learned more about the cold ones, he had been officially welcomed into the tribe and the pack. They howled with excitement before Paul was snatched up over their heads and ushered him over to the tribal Chief. There, he was being marked.

With sticks of bamboo and Indian ink, Paul accepted his pack mark with pride. As soon as the last dot of ink was etched, the whole pack erupted into their wolf form and howled to the full moon overhead.

Bella watched as Paul shifted. It was the first time she had seen him phase. She was mesmerized by his silvery-black beauty. "Weird, huh?" Charlie stood next to his daughter as they watched the wolves run towards the tree line. They were running the perimeter one full round before coming back to the festivities.

"Did you ever think that we'd live in a world where mythical creatures are real?" Bella looked up to her father and smiled.

Charlie returned her smile. "No, can't say that I have." He put his arm across her shoulders. "I've noticed how happy you are. I've never seen you this happy."

"I'm very happy, daddy. I wish I met Paul before Edward, and as far as I'm concerned, there never was a relationship with him. He never existed in my world." Bella wrapped her arms around her dad's back. "You wanna know what else would make me happier?" Charlie huffed. "Well, two things."

"Do I really want to know?"

"Of course." Bella leaned her head against Charlie's chest. "Mom would want you to move on. I'll be nineteen soon, dad. I think you've waited long enough to be happy, again."

Charlie sighed. "I don't know, honey. I've never looked at another woman like I did your mom. She was my whole world until you came along. I had seen how happy Billy was when Paul was born and questioned whether I could love anyone more, and the moment you were born, I knew exactly what Billy felt."

"She'd want you to find someone else. Find you a younger woman and have a couple more kids."

Charlie chuckled. "I don't know about that."

"Well, how about giving your daughter away to her true soul mate?" Bella looked up at him. "We're closing on the house, hopefully by the end of next week. We've already bought just about everything we need. Sam let us use some space in his garage to store our stuff. We want to get married as soon as we can. We don't want to wait."

"I'd be honored." Charlie pulled his daughter in closer to him and kissed the top of her head. "Are you going to be telling me you're pregnant, too?"

Bella laughed. "Maybe soon." She pulled away from him. "I want babies, dad. That's a lot of the reason I decided to call things off with Edward. I want the experience. I know there's other ways I could have, you know, gotten pregnant. That makes me sound selfish where Edward is concerned, but honestly, I fell out of love with him when he left, and it just took me a bit to figure that out."

"I know," Charlie said as he gave her a little squeeze. "And I'm selfish when I say I'm glad you're not marrying that... person."

The wolves came running in from the woods. Paul came up to Bella and Charlie so they could get a good look at him. He licked the side of Bella's face then turned to Charlie. "Oh, no." Charlie put his hands up. "I can do without wolf slobber." Paul sat back on his haunches. He was still taller than Bella sitting down and right at the same height of Charlie. He raised his paw and Charlie took it with both hands. "I hope you don't plan on marrying my daughter in wolf form."

A wheezing sound escaped Paul only to be interpreted into a laugh. Bella stepped over to him and wrapped her arms around his huge neck. Paul leaned down and tried his hardest to gesture for her to get on his back. "I think he wants you to climb on."

Paul nodded his giant head agreeing with Charlie.

"You want me to get on your back like a dang horse?" Bella was surprised more than anything.

Paul moved his mouth like he was talking then opened his mind to Bella. "Get on." She did as he asked then he stood up. "Hold on."

He took off into a slow trot and walked into the woods. He went in about a quarter of a mile then stopped. He lowered himself so Bella could slide off just before he phased into his human form then turned to look at his Angel with a smile. "I want you here."

"I am here," Bella replied.

Paul pointed down to his very hard and erect appendage. "I want you here."

Bella's brows rose in surprise. "What if they hear us?"

"Who cares," Paul stated. "I don't, so please drop your pants. I'm pretty sure you don't want me going back to the party, in my wolf form, I might add. Do you know what it looks like when a dog..."

Bella cut him off as she raised her hands. "Stop. I get the picture." She reached down and hooked her thumbs into the elastic of her leggings and pushed them down. "Where do you want me?"

Paul stepped up and kissed her like he would never see her again. When he came up for air, he turned her, facing the tree they were standing next to. "Brace yourself on the tree and push your ass out towards me."

"Oooo..." Bella said seductively then complied. "I have a feeling I'm going to like this."

"I sure hope so." Paul reached down and aligned himself with her entrance. He swiped the head of his cock along her very aroused folds. "Ready, Angel?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She watched over her shoulder the best that she could as Paul pushed himself inside of her. "Oh, sweetest of the sweet. That feels so good."

There was nothing slow about what they were doing. Paul wanted it fast and hard. His adrenaline was in overdrive after all the activities he took part in. "I love you, Angel." He leaned over and kissed her neck. "You're my world, my ember, the air I breathe and my heart."

"I love you, more." He began to move faster the closer he neared the finish line. "More than anything."

The moment Paul felt Bella begin to spasm, he pulled her against him and came deep inside her. He had never had a better feeling in his entire life. Not even the first time he had sex. "I could seriously go for round two, but I'm afraid they'll come looking for us if we're gone too long."

As soon as Bella had her pants pulled up and Paul phased back to his wolf, they headed back to the bonfire. The other wolves had shifted back into their human. Jake had run up to his room and fetched his football. There was a game going when the two love birds made it back from their romp. The couple made their way inside to clean up before heading back out. Paul was sure his pack mates could smell sex pouring off of him, but he didn't care. Sam wouldn't tolerate any rude remarks about couples disappearing for a bit to get their groove on.

Watching the wolf pack, only dressed in shorts, made Bella shiver from the cool air coming in off the water. Cora had noticed and found Bella's hoodie to bring it to her. Bella was thankful for the warmth. They sat in silence, watching the boys play, but something had been weighing on Cora's mind. "I remember when your mom was pregnant with you. We were really good friends." Cora chuckled as she thought back to when her sister had begun to date Billy. "It's amazing how things work out, though. We, as in myself and my parents, knew Malia was dating someone who lived on the reservation. At the time, we had lived in Forks because there wasn't any livable housing in LaPush. There was only a convenient store where you could get gas for your car and a fountain drink. I had only seen Billy from afar. I had never come face to face with him, but my sister was happy. I was, too, at the time. I had been dating the same boy since I was a freshman in high school. Blake was the only boy I cared about, and I hoped and prayed every day for us to one day get married."

Cora adjusted herself on the blanket next to Bella. "When Malia got pregnant at 18, my parents weren't happy at all because they weren't married. Our dad was set in his ways with his restrictions. He didn't care how old we were. If we lived in his house, then we followed his rules and there was no way on God's green earth was he going to allow Billy to move in with us, so she moved in with him. They lived in a little house not far from where we live now. It's not there anymore because that's where they built the hospital." Cora sighed. "Billy loved her so much. He had asked her to marry him and began to plan their wedding. When Paul was about 8 months old, that was when we officially met, and it really does sound off the wall, but him imprinting on me was the poster information about love at first sight. Worst of all, it happened right in front of Malia. Neither one of us knew what was happening, and you know just as well as I do that imprinting can't be helped. Who could blame my sister for the way she reacted. I would've been the same way."

"I've never felt anything like it," Bella said, slipping her opinion into the one-sided conversation. "I honestly can't imagine how Malia felt. It sounds like a bucket of ice and razor blades are being shot through your heart. She had to be devastated."

"She was," Cora replied. "She hated me even more than she hated Billy. It didn't matter how things were explained to her. The elders told her the story of the first imprint, and she didn't believe it. She actually hated all of it and moved back to Forks to live with one of our cousins."

"I can relate. I thought my life was over when Edward left me, so I know what it feels like, and now that I was imprinted on, it feels like I never had any form of love or compassion for Edward. It's like we were only ever acquaintances." Then Bella chuckled. "I haven't said anything about this, but when I went to Port Angeles to be alone, I was seriously considering giving Jake a chance. I do love him, but now that Paul is in my life, Jake will only ever be a brother and best friend to me. I feel confident that he'll imprint sooner rather than later."

Cora smiled as they watched Jake tackle Sam to the ground. "I wish they had a chance to grow up together."

"I think Paul's adapting pretty well. He's gone from being an only child to having three biological siblings and a pack of brothers in a matter of weeks." Bella flinched when Paul was slammed to the ground by Embry. "That has to hurt."

"Eh..." Cora said as she stood. "It's just rough housing. They do it all the time." She reached down to offer Bella a hand to stand up. "Come help me clean up some. A few of the boys have to leave soon to patrol."

Paul noticed that Bella and Cora were beginning to clean up. "Hey, guys, I'm out. I'm gonna help clean up."

With the entire wolf pack helping to clean up, it didn't take long before they were dousing the bonfire with buckets of water from the ocean. Bella could feel the exhaustion kicking in. All she wanted to do was take a quick shower and climb into bed. Paul needed to shower, as well, because he was sweaty and covered in sand.

The days began to slide by quicker than Bella wanted. She would blink and a new week was started. They had finally closed on their house, and that very day, all their furniture was moved in. It was so hectic that it nearly made Paul and Bella lose their heads. If one thing went wrong, another one popped up as soon as the other was fixed. A new hot water heater had to be installed, there was a leak under the kitchen sink and the motor in Bella's truck finally gave out. She knew it was going to happen eventually but wished it didn't happen when she was trying to leave work one night.

Paul had gone to work at the family garage. He realized that he loved to work on cars, so Billy gave him a job. Bella hated to bother him while he was learning, but she needed her truck towed. As she reached into her purse to get her phone, Edward appeared from the tree line. He just wanted a few minutes alone with her. "Bella?"

She turned to see him approaching her. "What do you want?"

"Can we talk for a minute?" He was cautious. He honestly didn't want her to hate him. He knew he hadn't been acting like himself as of late. He wondered if Emmett was right about getting out of town for a while. Making things right with Bella was priority before he left Forks.

"I need to get home. Paul is expecting me." She wondered if Edward knew her truck was broken or maybe he's the one who broke it. He had disabled it before to keep her away from Jake.

Edward stood with his hands in his pockets. "I know." He gave her a sad smile. "I just wanted to tell you good-bye."

Bella raised her brows at him. "Are you leaving town?"

He nodded. "I've decided to leave town for a while. I haven't been myself and my family has insisted that being away from here would be best. I really haven't been myself."

"That's putting it mildly," Bella clarified.

"I'm sorry," he said as he took a step closer to her. He wanted to be right next to her, but he knew that wouldn't be a very good idea. "I just wanted to let you know that I've accepted that you're not meant to be with me."

"What made you come to that conclusion?" She opened her truck door and tossed her vest and purse on the seat.

Edward shrugged his shoulders. "I can read minds, remember."

Bella crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course. How could I forget?"

"I saw that you're his entire world, and I know that you two can hear each other here." He pointed to his head then took an unnecessary deep breath. "And here." He laid his hand over his chest. "You were only my singer, and I've learned that I can have more than one. You were just the first of many."

"That's good to hear." She kept her arms crossed over her chest. "Are you done stalking me?"

"Yes. I'm sorry," he said noticing that something was different about her but decided not to say anything about it. "I'm leaving tonight. I just wanted to let you know that you have nothing to worry about anymore. Alice and Jasper have left town for a while, if you didn't know. Emmett and Rose are leaving later in the week, and Carlisle and Esme are staying. Esme just started a new project on a homeless shelter in Port Angeles."

Bella nodded. "Well, thank you for letting me know. You'll have to give me time to think about forgiving you."

"I understand. I also understand that you're getting married." The thought of Bella wearing another man's ring made his stomach twist with disgust. He noticed the huge blue diamond she had perched on her ring finger. "That's a very beautiful ring. Paul has exquisite tastes." He was truly referring to Bella, and again, he kept silent.

A proud smile crossed Bella's face. "We are and thank you." Bella extended her arm to look at the ring that Paul had surprised her with the day they moved into their house. It definitely wasn't expected. "We just moved into our house."

"Charlie doesn't think it's too soon?" Edward was being nosy, and he knew it.

"No," Bella said, smiling from ear to ear. "He's actually really happy for us. He knows all about the imprinting, so it wasn't surprise to him when we told him we were getting married very soon."

"And Jacob? I know how he feels about you." As much as Edward dislikes Jacob, he would have loved to be a fly on the wall when he found out Bella was imprinted on by someone other than him.

"I'm sure you're aware by now that Paul and Jake are brothers, and believe it or not, he's very happy for us." Bella was starting to get uncomfortable. She just wanted to get home, so she raised her phone and sent a quick text to Paul. "You need to come get me. My truck is broke, and Edward is here."

As much as Edward hated to, he had to leave. He wanted to stay with Bella as long as he could, but he was pretty sure she just sent a message to Paul to come get her. The abomination that she called a truck, had finally died. He would have loved to be the one to break it permanently, but it actually died on its own. "I'm aware, and I wish you nothing but happiness. I hope that we can be friends one day."

"We'll see. One day at a time." She heard a growl from the tree line just as she raised her phone to see if Paul had read her text, and he had. "Paul's on his way."

Edward nodded. "Good-bye, Bella."

"By Edward."

As soon as Paul arrived to get Bella, he looked over the truck and found that the engine had completely blown, so he called Jake to have him bring the tow truck. He planned to park the truck behind the shop to rebuild the engine in it sometime in the future. He told Bella that they could carpool on the days she had to work considering Newton's was only 6 miles away from the shop.

Over the next few weeks, their new house was finally coming together quite nicely. Bella was proud of herself as she hung the final picture that led them upstairs. Her mom, Charlie, and the wolves graced her walls. She planned to add wedding pictures, soon. Their wedding was only one week away, and she couldn't wait.

"Angel?" Paul came walking into the kitchen. "Can I help you with something?"

"Grab a couple of plates, and forks to set our places at the bar." She pulled some garlic bread from the oven and dumped the slices into a breadbasket.

"Do you have a drink?" He opened the fridge and grabbed himself a carton of coconut water.

Bella pointed to a glass on the counter. "I have tea." She pulled foil from the pan full of chicken alfredo. "Can you put this over there, please?"

Paul grabbed a few napkins just as Bella finally sat down. "This looks delicious. Thank you for dinner."

"You're welcome. You can take some for lunch tomorrow." She scooped up a huge helping and placed it on Paul's plate as he reached for two pieces of garlic bread.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Bella finally spoke. "Have you talked to your dad about having Carlisle fixing his back?"

Billy always thought his injury was unrepairable. He has feelings in his legs, but when the injury happened, the bone healed over a nerve in his back. If he tried to straighten his legs, severe pain would affect his whole body, so that's why he chose to be in a wheelchair. Bella knew that Carlisle is a medical genius and suggested that he repair Billy's back. Paul agreed with her and planned to talk to Billy about having it done.

"Not yet. I will after the wedding." He shoveled more food into his mouth. It was quiet as they continued to eat. It was when he lifted his drink to his mouth, that he heard it; he heard them. Two tiny little heartbeats fluttering away inside Bella's womb.

Paul dropped his fork and calmly put his drink down. He wasn't sure how to tell her, so he turned in his seat to face her. "Angel, have you, you know, gotten your period?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?" She took another bite of food. "Of course I have. I got it..." She began to think then realized she had no idea what the date was. She hadn't paid attention to much of anything since they began planning their wedding. If she wasn't working, she was always on the go trying to get everything ready for the upcoming weekend. She remembered having her period the week before she met Paul, but after that, she doesn't recall getting her crimson tide. How could she not know? They had already been together just over three months.

"Angel?" Paul kept his eyes on her. She was staring blank faced into the kitchen.

Bella shook her head then reached into her back pocket to get her phone. She pulled up her calendar and began to count back. "Oh my God!" She said excitedly. "Oh my God!"

Paul's brows rose. "Angel? What's going on?"

She turned to look at him with a giant smile on her face. "Oh my God!" She jumped up from her chair and threw herself at Paul. He almost fell over but caught himself on the edge of the counter. "Oh my God!"

Bella wrapped her legs around Paul as he stood up from his chair. "Angel?"

"I think I'm pregnant." She pressed her lips to his. "I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant."

"I can hear them." He kissed her hard in return.

"You can hear the heartbeat?" That made Bella even happier.

"Yes," Paul said. "I can hear two heartbeats."

Thank you!

RTB